Feed apparatus for mills.



N @894 756'. '1 E TED JUL 28 1908-.- S.SNYDER. Y FEED APPARATUS FORMILLS.

APPLICATION IILBD JAN, 26, 1905.

SNYDER. PATENTED JULY 28, 1903, FEED APPARATUS FOR MILLS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 26, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET g UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. SIMON SNYDER, OF MUNOY,PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOB. TO SPROUT, WALDRON & COMPANY, OF MUNOY,PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

FEED APPARATUS FOR MILLS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 28, 1908;

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, SIMON SNYDER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Muncy, in the county of Lycoming and State of Pennsylvaniahave invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feed Apparatus forMills; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to feeding-apparatus or feed-regulators forfacilitating the feeding to mills of the material to be ground and atthe same time giving an even and constant or uniform flow of thematerialto the grindin surfaces. It is particularly adapted for fee inggranular or similar material to burs, attrition and other grindingmills, especially where the particles of the material are uneven or varyconsiderably in size, as crushed corn-cobs for instance. But, except forthe specific improved form of vibratory shoe, the invention issusceptible of general utility, as a feed regulator for any type ofmill, for example, crushing-rolls.

The principal objects attained are: (1) simplicity of construction andeffective 0 eration of the apparatus and its severa elements; (2) evenand constant or uniform feed of the material, especially when composedof particles of various sizes; (3) instant cut-off of the feed, andquick renewal of the same at will (4) regulation of the feed to theslightest extent desired; (5) quick control of the actuating mechanism,for throwing the vibratory shoe into and out of action;

(6) easy-running and noiseless action of the mechanism, and relativelyslight motion for imparting the necessary vibratory-movement to theshoe, and (7) convenience in manipulation and control of the apparatus.

To these ends, the invention embraces a novel form of vibratory shoe,for facilitating the feeding of the material, and confining the feed toa more or less narrow stream; a gate or slide associated therewith forregulating.

the amount or quantity of feed as desired, which may be done to a nicetyby virtue of the improved form of the shoe; improved means for o cratingthe slide; novel and exceedingly e ective mechanism for actuating orvibrating the shoe; a quick-acting device for throwing the actuatingmechanism into and out of operation, to cut-off and resume the feed atwill; and the combination of such improvements in an exceedinglyreliable, certain and efficient apparatus.

Without limitation to the specific construction illustrated, since thesame is susceptible of modification in details of arrangement andstructure of parts, the invention will be fully described, by referenceto the accompanyin drawings, which form a part of this spec' cation, andthen particularly pointed out and defined'in the claims annexed.

In said drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation-of a part of an ordinaryvertical bur mill, equipped with feeding apparatus embodying myinvention; the hopper having a part of its side broken away to disclosethe vibratory shoe and the regulating slide or gate therefor. Fig. 2 isa front elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail face view of the slideor gate. Fig. 4 is a detail face view of the cam shown for operating theslide. Fig. 5 is a front end view of the shoe. Fig. 6 is a detail viewof the eccentric-shaft and its bearing. Fig. 7 is a side view of theshoe shown in inoperative position, with dotted lines indicating it inworking position. Fig. 8 is a front end view of another form of shoe.

A particular ex lanation of the illustrated machine is as fol ows:

A indicates the mill casing, inclosing the burs or grinding-disks towhich material is to be fed.

B is the runner-shaft.

C is the hopper, such as ordinarily used for feeding a bur, attrition orother grinding mill. In this case the hopper feeds through an eye in oneof the disks or burs, which.

however is not shown, this being a familiar construction.

D is a short eccentric shaft, or a shaft having .an eccentric thereon.It is securely boxed to the hopper by any proper bearin Motion isimparted to this eccentric shaft from the grinder shaft by pulleys E Eand belt F. This eccentric shaft imparts a vibratory motion to the leverG, which is attached to or rigid with the vibratory shoe H, the shoebeing pivoted at h in the hopper. In the construction shown, theeccentric shaft operates above the lever G, which extends outward as atail piece from the shoe; said shaft thus limiting the upward movementof the lever and holding the shoe in proper position. The point on thelever wearing directly upon the eccentric is supplied with a raw j meansmaybe employed; butIhave provided hide or other suitable bearing whichmay be renewed easily as occasion requires. The lever is held in contactwith the eccentric by a spring g, with the necessary attachment of boltand nut to tension the same properly.

The shoe H is of peculiar construction, preferably slanting downwardfrom its pivot or rear end to its front or discharge end, and having itsfront approximately the shape of the end segment of an ellipse; themiddle of 1 the shoe being the lowest line. In other words, at thefront, the sides of the shoe slant or curve downward toward the middle,which is the lowest point; and preferably the bottom of the shoe mergesgradually into this shape. This construction confines the feed to a moreor less narrow stream, according to the opening at the end of the shoewhich is controlled by the slide or gate I; it enables the fineadjustments or regulations of the quantity of feed to be made; and whenonly a small quan tity of material is being fed to the mill, the openingunder the slide will be large enough for particles or lumps ofconsiderable size to pass out under the slide. The front edge of theshoe may be shaped to an are, or preferably on a slight miter cut, sothat the vibratory movement of the shoe is not restricted or bound bythe gate in the way.

The amount of material discharged from the shoe is regulated by raisingand lowering the slide I, which it will be observed, controls thedischarge from the shoe instead of the feed to'the shoe. Thisarrangement, in connection with the peculiar form of the shoe, enablesthe operator to regulate the flow to a nicety, and restrict the openingto a very slight degree. The slide travels in any suitable guides in thehopper. This construction is especially advantageous for regulating thefeed of materials of uneven size, such as crushed corn and cobs. Theaction of the crusher does not always reduce the cobs to a small size,so that there are frequently pieces as large as g or g of an inch thatmust feed to the mill. Were the outlet from the shoe of any considerablewidth and height, enough for these pieces to pass through, it is evidentthat there would be fed to the mill three or four times as much stock asit could grind; but by having the aforesaid peculiar form of the shoe,the stock is gathered together at one point and is fed through a spacewhich will allow the larger particles to go through, while yet thedischarge is along a narrow line. Were the outlet several inches wide,then by adjusting the gate only a slight distance above, the increase inthe feed would be considerable; but with this improved construction aconsiderable adjustment of the slide is necessary in order tosubstantially increase the1 amount of stock going to the grindingdis (S.

For operating the slide, any appropriate an improved device for thispurpose, according to which the slide is held. in position and.controlled by a cam-wheel J, having helical or involute grooves engaginga vertical series of cogs i on the slide; the cam being disposed at suchan angle to the gate that only one or two grooves on one side of the camengage the cogs on the slide. A desirable arrangement is to have onerotation of the hand-wheel K cause the slide to move two cogs; and thepitch of these cogs being onehalf inch, each revolution will adjust thegate one inch upward or downward. as desired. By this device, it isimpossible for any jar or shaking of the slide to change its adjustment,as the slide resting on the lower part of the cam by its own weightprevents vertical movement unless the hand-wheel K is revolved from theoutside of the hopper.

For the purpose of stopping the feed of material, a cut-off lever L isfulcrunied above the lever G; said lever L having a toe or tail-piece Zout of contact with. lever G during vibration of the shoe; but bythrowing lever L forward in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 1), its toedepresses lever G below the reach or throw of the eccentric of shaft D;so that the shoe remains stationary while the eecentric shaft continuesto revolve. Reversing this operation, that is throwing the lever L backto its former position, instantly iniparts motion to the shoe and thefeeding resumed.

In operation, the vibration of the shoe moves the stock gradually towardthe gate or slide, and the motion agitates the material next to theslide, keeping it in good. condition to flow and discharge rapidly;while at the opposite side of the pivot 7b there is very little motion.The whole construction is OK- ceedingly simple, the operation easy andnoiseless, and the action reliable and certain.

The advantage in having the gate at the front of the shoe is the perfectcontrol of the amount of feed, as already explained. It is verydifficult to control the feed by a slide above the shoe. In thoseconstructions where the feed is controlled by a gate above the shoe,there is always a quantity of stock below the slide that will feed intothe mill after the slide is closed, and in some instances this amountsto considerable. But in my improved apparatus, the instant the lever Lis thrown down, the feed stops and does not allow a particle more to befed into the mill, so that it is instantly empty. Throwing up said leverinstantly resumes the feed. This is a valuable point when it is desiredto stop the mill suddenly. For to stop a mill while the stock is feedingmakes it very diflicult to start again unless the disks are separated.But with the present apparatus, a mill can be stopped or started withoutchanging its grinding adjustment.

The apparatus has the further advantage of being small and compact,occupying less" space than any other feeding device with which I amacquainted.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States 1. A feed-regulator having, in combination, ahorizontally-disposed vibratory feed shoe so shaped as to provide anopen dis-' of material from the shoe, the bottom of the gate adapted toextend clear across the open end of the shoe at various elevations ofthe gate, thereby confining the discharge to the medial portion of theshoe through an approximately triangular assage. Y

2. A feed-regulator aving, in combination, a horizontally-disposedvibratory feedshoe having an open discharge-end and its opposite sideslanting downward convergingly t0 the medial lowermost line, means foroperating said shoe to produce an up and down vibratory motion of itssaid discharge end, an independent gate arranged adjacent to and acrossthe said open discharge end of the shoe, whereby an approximatelytriangular opening for discharge of material is provided between thebottom of said gate and opposite sides of the discharge end of the shoe,and means for up and down adjustment of the gate to enlarge and restrictsaid opening.

3. A feed-regulator having, in combina tion, a horizontally-disposedvibratory feedshoe having an open front discharge end and having atail-lever extending rearwardly from its pivot, a rotary deviceoperating directly on said tail-lever to vibrate said shoe, and

a hand-lever having an arm adapted to engage said tail-lever for movingand sustaining said tail-lever out of reach of said device to stopvibration at will. I

4. A feed-regulator having, in combination, a vibratoryfe'ed-shoepivoted on a horizontal axis and having a tail-lever, a rotary deviceoperating on said lever to vibrate said shoe, a spring holding saidlever yieldingly in contact with said device, and an independentthrow-out lever having an arm ada ted to engage and move and sustainsaid firstmentioned lever out of reach of said device when saidthrow-out lever is moved to throwout position.

5. A feed-regulator having, in combina- 7 tion, a hopper for feedingmaterial to the mill, a vibrating shoe therein for receiving suchmaterial and discharging the same, a vertically movable gate or slideadjustable across the discharge end of the shoe, a' handwheel outsidethe hopper, and mechanismcontrolled thereby for adjusting the slide, aninclined rod operated by the hand-wheel and having a cam-wheel at anangle to the slide having helical grooves or ribs engaging a rack orcogs or grooves on the slide.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

SIMON SNYDER.

Witnesses:

CHARLES N. HOLLEY, FREDERICK C. PETERMAN.

